Weeds Home --> Weed Impacts --> Effects of Weeds on Rangeland Ecology
Alien Plants Ranking System - By National Park Service, Ripon College, University of Minnesota, and the U.S. Geological Survey. A computer system (available for download) to help land managers make difficult decisions about invasive nonnative plants; including comparison of innocuous species with invasive ones, and identification of potentially invasive plants. The system also addresses the feasibility of control of each species, enabling the manager to weigh the costs of control against the level of impact. From the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center/U.S. Geological Survey. [Western Region] 
Colorado Weed Mapping - Links to maps that depict the statewide distribution and abundance of 20 selected noxious weed species in the state. From the Colorado Department of Agriculture. [Colorado]
Invasive Plants: Changing the Landscape of America - By Randy Westbrooks. Fact book intended to raise awareness of the destruction and economic losses caused by invasive plants in the United States. From the Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds(FICMNEW). [Western Region]
Invasive weeds in rangelands: Species, impacts, and management - By Joseph M. DiTomaso. Rangeland and pastures comprise about 42% of the total land area of the United States. This abstract describes the effects of found more than 300 rangeland weeds in the United States, which cause an estimated loss of $2 billion annually in the United States impacting the livestock industry, interfering with grazing, poisoning animals, increasing costs of managing and producing livestock, and reducing land value. From the Weed Science Society of America. [Western Region]
Knapweed - Its cost to British Columbia (B.C.) - Several aspects of how knapweed infestations are causing major environmental deterioration and loss of beef production in the southern interior of British Columbia. From the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. [Western Region]
NatureServe: Plant Data for Download - Provides access to several downloadable items, including datasets on invasive species impact ranks, national assessments for 380 plant species, and a publication, "An Invasive Species Assessment Protocol: Evaluating Non-Native Plants for Their Impact on Biodiversity.". From the NatureServe. [Western Region]
Non-native Grasses & Fires Create Double Jeopardy - By Todd Esque and Cecil Schwalbe. Collaborating with the National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management, USGS researchers found increased risks to the survival of saguaros and tortoises by exposure to the fires caused by non-native grasses. Buffelgrass, thought to be a roadside weed, has spread in remote areas of the Sonoran Desert. The saguaro and the desert tortoise have no defenses against fires that result from these quick-growing and quick-dying invasive grasses. From the US Geological Survey. [Arizona]
North Boulder Valley Management Plan - Details of a plan for the protection of the natural, agricultural, cultural, and recreational resources and for the preservation of the land; includes information on healthy vegetation and weeds. From the City of Boulder (Colorado) Open Space & Mountain Parks Department. [Colorado]
Not All Alien Invaders Are From Outer Space: Spotted Knapweed, Centaurea maculosa - Spotted knapweed is a troublesome noxious weed that chokes out native range grasses and doesn't provide nutritious food for grazers or wildlife either. From the USDA Animal and Plant Health inspection Service (APHIS). [Western Region]
Not All Alien Invaders Are From Outer Space: Yellow Starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis - Starthistle is a European weed that grows on various soil types and usually inhabits rangelands, vineyards, and orchards. It likes the sun and cannot tolerate shade, which is why it can be found in the wide-open spaces of our Western States. This weed infests about 3 million acres in Idaho, California, Oregon, and Washington. Between displacing native forage plants and poisoning horses, yellow starthistle poses a serious threat to U.S. rangelands. From the USDA Animal and Plant Health inspection Service (APHIS). [Western Region]
Not All Alien Invaders Are From Outer Space: Leafy Spurge, Euphorbia esula - Leafy spurge presents a threat to pastures and rangeland for native grasses and cattle. Leafy spurge can increase the amount of land it takes to feed a cow by as much as 75 percent. Also, cattle prefer not to eat in areas infested by leafy spurge because it contain a toxic, milky, latex. From the USDA Animal and Plant Health inspection Service (APHIS). [Western Region]
Noxious Weed Threatens Habitat in Hells Canyon - By The Idaho Statesman. Article about star thistle invasion in this Idaho river valley. From the The Nature Conservancy. [Western Region]
Origin of the Species: Native versus Non-native Rangeland Plants - By Sherry Dodson. Defines terms and controversies surrounding the terms “native” and “non-native”. A non-native plant frequently fits several overlapping definitions. For example, a hybrid cultivar may be introduced to new region where it is able to establish and spread. It may remain a relatively benign exotic, blend in with the resident plant populations and be termed naturalized, or aggressively spread, form mono-cultures, and be listed as a noxious weed. From the University of Idaho, Rangelands Integrated Management. [Western Region]
Rangeland weed management - Help in distinguishing between desirable rangeland species and weeds, and the effect of these plants on livestock production. From the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service. (pdf, 112K) [Western Region]
Rocky Mt Research Station: Foreign Weeds Feed Western Fires - By Hannah Wolfson - Associated Press Writer for The Salt Lake Tribune. Newspaper article on the problem of invasive plants and possible solutions. From the US Forest Service. [Western Region]
The Invasive Species Initiative: Tamarix species (Saltcedar, Tamarisk - This page provides several photos of different species of Tamarix and links to extensive document 9in html, pdf, and MS Word formats) on Specied Management Summary, which describes the plant and management control strategies. From the The Nature Conservancy. [Western Region]
The Spread of Invasive Weeds in Western Wildlands: A State of Biological Emergency, The Governor's Idaho Weed Summit - By Jerry Asher and Carol Spurrier. This paper explains how hundreds of public land watersheds in the West are rapidly undergoing the greatest permanent land degradation in their recorded history. From the Bureau of Land Management. [Western Region]
Weeds BC - Information on weed impacts, legislation, management, etc., from British Columbia. From the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. [Western Region]
Yellow Starthistle Information - By Dr. Joseph DiTomaso. Comprehensive coverage of this plant, including impact, biology, ecology, management, and legislation. From the Weed Research and Information Center, The University of California. [Western Region]
This resource is developed by the Arid
Lands Information Center (University of Arizona)
in cooperation
with and support of the National
Agricultural Library.
   
http://alic.arid.arizona.edu/invasive/html/template4.asp?level1=impactslevel2=ecology
Page created from the database
 To
view Portable Document Format (PDF) files, you will need the
Adobe Acrobat Reader which is available for free from Adobe.
|
